Summary created by Smart Answers AI
In summary:
- Apple CEO Tim Cook announced a “big week ahead” starting Monday, with the company sending invitations for special experiences in New York, London, and Shanghai on March 4.
- Macworld reports that multiple new products are expected to launch, including new entry-level iPad and iPad Air models, plus a budget MacBook based on mobile processors.
- The iPhone 17e may also be announced during this product refresh, though it’s anticipated to receive less attention than the other devices.
Tim Cook today announced what he describes as a “big week” for Apple, starting on Monday.
“A big week ahead,” he said in a brief post on Twitter/X (using his personal account rather than the main company one, which is very rarely used). “It all starts Monday morning!”
Apple had previously sent out invitations to “special experiences” in New York, London, and Shanghai on March 4, which falls in the middle of next week. This post appears to confirm that, rather than being a one-off event, March 4 will form the centerpiece of several days of releases. Other sources have predicted that we’ll see at least five new products across multiple announcements.
The phrase “a big week” implies, at least to me, a full five days of announcements, but that might not be what we get. Based on a previous “exciting week,” back in October 2024, new Mac announcements were made on the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday only. So the week might be finished by March 4.
In his tweet, the Apple CEO also uses the company’s usual hashtag #AppleLaunch, which now shows up with a tiny version of the artwork from those recent invitations: a yellowy green version of the Apple logo. This is known as a Hashflag or Hashmoji, a system where companies pay Twitter to attach a specific emoji to a particular hashtag for promotional purposes. Historically, it was turned into an animated emoji that appears when you like a tweet with the hashtag on the event day.
The final element of the tweet is a short looped video. It shows what is initially a blank flat metal surface, on which a hand creates the Apple logo through a series of gestures: waving to place the approximate shape, pinching in the top and bottom, thumb-swiping the leaf, and flicking away the bite. It ends up as the reflective Apple logo seen on the backs of numerous products, including the iPhone. The scale of this one hints at a Mac, although it could also be an iPad.
Which makes sense, because both MacBooks and iPads are expected to be announced next week. We’re hoping to get a new entry-level iPad and iPad Air, and there’s huge anticipation for a budget MacBook based around a mobile processor.
We’ll probably hear about the iPhone 17e too. But the tweet doesn’t hint at that product, so perhaps it’ll be given a bit less attention than the new MacBook.
